Electric controller.



J. H. 'HALL.

ELECTRIC CONTROLLER APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7, 1911. RENEWED OCT. 25, 1912.

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WITNESSES; BUT J I M ATTORNEQL J. H. HALL.

ELECTRIC CONTROLLER. v

. I APPLIOATION FILED JUNE '7, 1911. RENEWED OUT. 25, 1912. 1,053,502, Patented Feb. 18, 1913.

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INVENTUR WITNESSES v ATT CIIIRiNEY' J. H. HALL.

ELECTRIC CONTROLLER.

APPLIGATION FILED JUNE 7, 1911. RENEWED 001'. 25, 1912.

1,053,502; V Patented Feb. 18,1913.

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ELECTRIC- GONTROLLER. APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 7, 1911. RENEWED 001. 25, 1912.

1,053,502. Patented Feb. 18,1913.

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wwvmmn WITNESSES V fl i/y, M74 M ATTORNEY I I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAY H. HALL, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE ELECTRIC CONTROLLER AND.

MANUFACTURING COMPANY; OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

ELECTRIC CONTROLLER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 18,1913.

Application filed June 7, 1911-, Serial No. 631,760. Renewed October 25, 1912. Serial No. 727,784.

To all whom u may concern:

. Be it known that I, JAY H. HALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the'county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Electric Controllers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to electric motor controllers of that type in which separately The object of my invention is to providea controller in which it will be impossible to operate the I'IlalIRSWltCh or reverser in case any of the res1stance cutout switches .is'closed. Thismay be accomplished in a directly to the negative.

number of ways as illustrated in Figures 1 to 5 of the accompanying drawings, which show diagrammatically five species of my invention. i

In Fig. 1, S andS are reversing switches, and S, S S are resistance switches arranged to control a motor having the armature A and the series field F. The switches i", S S, which short-circuit the sections of the starting resistance R, R It, are series switches, having their operating coils 0, c 0 connected in the motor circuit, and are of the type described in Can-fields application, Serial Number 583,000. A master controller is shown at M for operating the motor in either direction. The operating coils c", c on the reverse switches have one end connected to contacts n, m on the master switch; the other end of said coils is connected to the positive side of a line switch S. When the coil 0 or c is energized it closes its respective switch, the contact m on the master switch being connected At u and (Z are shown locking-out coils which, when'energized, prevent the operating coil or 0".

nected in series in a circuit leading from a point such as a on the positive main through the coils u and d, resistances 1", r, 1", and to the movable member of the switches S, S S, the resistance 1" being connected between the switches S and S and the resistance 1' being connected bet-ween the switches S and S I The movable member of each. resistance switch carries a bridging piece, which is adapted to connect the fixed contacts thereof.

- If all of the switches are open, as shown in Fig. 1, and the master controller is moved to the first position on either side of the center, the corresponding operating coil of the reverser becomes energized. Current flows from the positive side of the switch S through the coil 0* or 0 and to the negative at the master controller M, and the reversing switch whose coil is energized closes, there being as yet no current in the locking-out circuit to prevent its operation. As soon as the selected reversing switch closes, the motor-circuit is completed from the positive side of the switch S through the armature A of the motor, the field F, the starting resistance It, R R, and the coil 0 of the switch S, to the negative side of the switch S. For the switches S, S S I prefer to use the type shown in Canfields applications, Serial Number 583,000, filed September 21, 1910, and Serial Number 604,331,

filed January 23, 1911, and in Eastwoods Patent, No. 1,040,292, granted October 8, 1912. In these applications and-in this patent, particularly in Fig. 2, the series switch locks itself open automatically so long as the current in the motor circuit is above a predetermined limit. When the current falls below that limit, the switch closes automatically. Consequently, when the first rush of current has subsided, the resistance switch S closes, thereby shortcircuiting the first section It of the resistance and completing the locking-out circuit of the reve-rser through the movable member of the switch S, and the coil 0 of the said switch tothe negative. The reversing switch not operated is, therefore, locked in the open position. The operation of the switch S short-circuits the section B of the resistance and connects the actuating coil 0 of the switch S in circuit. The switch S then operates, short-circuiting the resistance R and, finally, the switch S in operating, short-circuits the last resistance R, as is fully described in Canfields said application. The resistance 1 in the locking-out circuit is for the purpose of limiting the amount of current in the coils uand d and decreasing thej heating of the said coils. The resistances r and 7 have a difiierent function, namely, to avoid short-circuiting the actuating coils c and c of the switches S and S when these switches close. .Were*- it not for the resistance r, for instance, the operation of the switch S would close a short-circuit around the coil 0 from the contacts of the switch S through the movable wmmber of this switch, the movable member 'When the master controller M is returned to the center, all the switches S, S S should drop to the open position. If one of them, say S stays closed, it is impossible to start the motor again in the same direction or to reverse it because current flows in the locking-out circuit from the positive through the coils u and d, the resistance r, the resistance r, the switch S the resistance R, and the coil 0 of the switch S'to the negative, thereby energizing the coils u and d which prevent the operation of switch S or S and protect the motor A from possible injury.

In Fig. 2, the resistance switches S, S S are of the same type as those shown in Fig. l. The interlocking feature of the reversing switches S and S is accomplished by means of an interlocking relay S controlling the contactsl? in the actuating circuit of the coils c and 0?. The reversing switches are provided with the auxiliary contacts K and K the function of which is to provide a maintaining circuit for the reversing-switch operated, independent of the interlock relay S A resistance 1' is in serted in said maintaining circuit. The interlocking relay circuit is traced from the positive through the coil 0 and the resistance r, and then is connected to each of the movable members of the switches S, S S

any one of which completes the circuit to the negative whenever it closes.

Assuming that all the resistance switches are open, the interlocking rel'ay S is down,

and the master. controller 1% is on contact 47?. or n, an actuating circuit is closed from the positive main through the contacts K on the relay S and the coil 0 or 0 to the negative through the master controller M. The switch S or S closes, establishing its own maintaining circuit from the positive through the resistance r j'the contacts K or E3, and the coil 0 or c to the negative through the master controller. At the same time current flows inthe motor circuit from the positive through the reversing switch operated, the armature A, the field F, the resistances R ,:R3 1t, and the.;o.perating coil 0 of theswitch S, to the negative.

, W hen the switch 18' closes, the circuit of the relay S is completed from the positive through the coil 0 the resistance r, the switch S, and the coil 0 to the negative. The coil 0 being energized operates the re lay 8", thereby opening at t e contact-s K the actuating circuit of the reversing switches. The switches S S3,will close in order, short-circuiting the remaining sections of starting resistance,as explained when describing Fig. 1. All the resistance switches should drop to the open osition when the master switch is brought ack to the center position. Howevenif from any cause one of them, say S stays closed, the

interlocking relay circuit is closed, current flowing from the positive through the coii c", the resistance r, the resistance r, the switch S", the resistance R and the coil 0" to the negative. It follows that the relay S is operated and the contacts K are open. Therefore, it will be impossible to energize either actuating coil 0 or 0 of the reversing switches and, consequently, to start again the motor in the same direction or to reverse it by manipulation of the master controller.

In Fig. 2, the resistance r is for limiting the amount of current in the coil 0, and the function "of the resistances r and 4* is to prevent the establ-ishmentof a short-circuit around thecoils c and 0 when the switches S and S operate.

Fig. 3 shows a system of electric motor control in which. the interlock for preventing the reverser or main switches fnom operating when any of the resistance switches is closed is provided by a pairof resistances r 1 associated with the com mon junction of the reverser operating coils. The resistances r W, are connected in series, one end of the circuit being joinedto c the positive and the other end being connected to the movable. members of the re sistance cut-out switches S S S These resistance switches are actuated by the shunt coils a, a, 0, one end of'each of which is permanently connected to the positive through a common wire, and the other end is connected to the negative by the operation of the master controller M.

If the master controller isv moved to the; first position on either side oi the center or off-position, one of the operating coils c, 0 of the reverser will receive current from thepositive through the resistance 9 the coil 0* i or 0 and the master controller to the nega tive. This will allow sufiicient current to pass through the operatin coil to close the respective reversing switc whereupon the motor circuit is established, from positive through the reversing switch operated, the armature A, the field F, and the resistances R R E. This operation will be allowed to proceed provided none of the resistance switches S to S is closed. If, however, one of them, say S, is closed, a circuit will also be established from the positivethroug'h the resistance 7, the resistance 1*, and the switch S to the negative. It will be seen that the operating coil of the reverser which is energized is now connected in parallel with theresistance 7", the two parallel circuits being in series with the resistance r Since the total amount of current through this two-branch circuit is limited by the resistance 1"", the amount of current in the operating coil of the reverser is smaller, and the resistances 1' and 1" may be so pro ortioned that, when this circuit throng 1" is established, the current in the operating coil will not be suiiicient to close the reverser. Suiiicient current must flow, however, through the operating coil to hold the reverser closed after it has once operated, since, in the normal operation of the controller after the reversing switch has op erated and resistance switch S is closed, this circuit through the resistance r will be established. This arrangement, in addition to securing the electrical interlock, has also the advantage of reducing the amount of current in the operating coil of the reverser after the closure of the first resistance switch, which is desirable to prevent overheating of the coil.

Fig. 4 shows another form of my invention in which the reversing switches are provided with auxiliary contacts which are closed when the reversing switches are open. One end of the coils c and c is joined to a wire which on one side is connected to the movable member of the switches S, S, S and on the other is connected to the positive through a resistance 1-. In the normal operation of the controller, when all the resistance switches S to S are open at start, and the master controller is moved to the first position, one of the operating coils 0* or c is connected in a circuit from the posi tive through resistance r, the coil or c, and the master controller M to the negative. The resistance 1" allows sufficient current to flow to operate the switch. This operation causes the auxiliary cont-act to open on this switch, which cuts oil the connection to the switches S", S, S, preventing current from flowing through this branch of the circuit when any or all of said switches are closed.

If, however, any of the resistance switches should remain closed from a previous operation, the negative will be connected through this closed switch and the auxiliary contacts of the reverser to the lower end of the reverser coils. IVhen the master controller is moved to the first position, the negative is connected through the master. controller to the upper end of the coil of the reversing switch which it is desired to close, but no current will fiow through this coil and itwill he, therefore, impossible to operate the corresponding switch. v

In Fig. 5, the part of the diagram not shown is intended to be the same as in Fig. 1. Upon closure of one of the reversingswitches, current flows through the motor circuit to the point at the left of the resistance R thence through the resistances R and R, the winding 0 on the switch S, and the resistance R to the negative. Uponthe closure of the switch S, current flows through the resistance R the contacts of the switch S, the winding 0 the winding 0, and the resistance R to the negative, thus shortcircuiting the resistance R. Upon the closure of the switch S the current flows through the winding 0 the contacts of the switches S and S, the windings c and c, and the resistance R to the negative,thus short-circuiting the resistance R Upon the closure of the switch S current flows through the winding 0 and the contacts of the switch S to the negative, thereby shortcircuiting the windings c and c and the resistance R Since the windings c and c are now denergized, the switches S and S fall to their opening position. Since the main contacts of the switches S, S S are all directly connected to each other by the main motor connections, there will be no tendency for the main current to pass from one pair of switch contacts to another through the locking-out circuit, because the resistance of the locking-out circuit would be somewhat greater than that of the main circuit due to the smaller size of the conductor. For this reason it is not necessary to use the resistances rr in the locking-out circuit between adjacent switches when the main' circuit contacts are arranged as shown in Fig. 5.

In each form of my invention, the motor circuit is established, 'that is, completed as soon as a reversing switch operates, thereby dispensing with a circuit-closing or main switch, and the electrical interlocking is secured after the operation of the. first resistance switch. In Figs. 1 and 3, the interlock is also obtained without the use of auxiliary contacts. These interlocking devices may be applied also to motor starters having no reversing switches, the locking-out devices described preventing the operation of the main switch, when any resistance switch is closed. I have shown the interlocking circuit connected to each of the resistance switches but it may be connected to'one or and an operating circuit therefor closed by the master controller, a locking-out circuit one end of which is connected to the same side of the source of supply as the said switch, and the other end of which is connected to the movable member of one or more of the resistance switches.

2. In a system of motor control, the combination of.a motor, a circuit therefor, a

starting resistance, a series of resistance switches having contacts in-said circuit, a master controller, a switch for establishing a flow of current in said circuit, means for operatin the switch, and means including the said contacts for preventing the operation of the switch when any of the resistance switches is closed.

3. In a current-varying controller, a series of resistance switches each having a pair of contacts and a bridging piece, a switch, means for operating the switch, and a locking-cut coil therefor connected in a circuit one end of which is connected to a source of supply, the other end being connected to the bridging piece of one or more of the resistance switches.

4. In a current-varying controller, a series of resistance switches, a switch, means for operating the. switch, a locking-out. coil" therefor connected in a circuit one end of which is connected to a source of supplv,

said switch contacts is closed.

6, In a motor control system, a motor, a circuit therefor, a series of switch contacts for controlling the motor, a switch for establishing current-flow through said circuit, and means including the said switch contacts for preventing the said switch from operating when any of the switch contacts is closed.

Copies'of this patent may be obtained for masses 7. In a current-varying controller, a an cuit, a resistance therefor, a switch for controlling the resistance, having a contactclosing bridging-piece, av switch for connecting said circuit to a source of supply, and means connected to the bridging-p ece for preventing the circuit-connecting switch on'lts' contacts.

8. In a current-varying controller, a circult, a resistance therefor, a pair of contacts frcih"'c1osing when the brid -P Q connected tolthe resistance, a bridging-piece for the contacts, a switch for connecting the circuit to a source of'supply, and a locking circuit for preventing the operation of the said contacts. k

9. In an electric controller, acircuit pair of contacts in the circuit, a bridging- 1' piece for the contacts, a switch, and -mearis-p' for preventing the operation of the switch including a locking circuit connected to the bridging-piece and energized when the bridging-piece connects wit-h one of the said contacts.

10. In an electric controller, a circuit to be controlled, a switch for establishing a flow of current in the circuit. a second switch having contacts for controlling the circuit,

and' means including the contacts of the second switch for preventing the closure of "the first switch when the second switch is closed.

11. In an electric controller, a motor, a

circuit therefor, a resistance in the circuit, a switch for establishing a flow of current in said circuit, a second switch having con .tacts in the circuit for controlling the resistance, and a locking magnet energized by current through the said contacts for preventing the operation of the first switch when the said contacts are closed.

Signed at Cleveland, Ohio, this 22nd day of May, A. D. 1911. W

- JAY H. HALL.

Witnesses:

R. H. BENNETT, H. M. DIEMER.

five cents each, by'addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. U. 

